Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Brigg and Immingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to support newborn screening laboratories to commence screening for spinal muscular atrophy once an interim decision is published.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
On all aspects of population and targeted screening, Ministers are advised by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC). A recommendation by the UK NSC on newborn screening for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is expected following the conclusion of an in-service evaluation (ISE), which is needed to answer several outstanding questions related to the implementation of a screening programme for SMA.
The UK NSC recommended an ISE of newborn blood spot screening for SMA in National Health Services in 2023. Since then, SMA Newborn Screening ISE Partnership Board was set up to plan and develop work to shape the ISE. This includes planning for newborn laboratories to be able to screen blood spot samples for SMA.
The National Institute for Health and Care Research’s Health Technology Assessment Programme is running a tender process to appoint researchers for the ISE which is a necessary step before the ISE can be rolled out.
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Brigg and Immingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that newborn screening for spinal muscular atrophy is commenced immediately.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
On all aspects of population and targeted screening, Ministers are advised by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC). A recommendation by the UK NSC on newborn screening for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is expected following the conclusion of an in-service evaluation (ISE), which is needed to answer several outstanding questions related to the implementation of a screening programme for SMA.
The UK NSC recommended an ISE of newborn blood spot screening for SMA in National Health Services in 2023. Since then, SMA Newborn Screening ISE Partnership Board was set up to plan and develop work to shape the ISE. This includes planning for newborn laboratories to be able to screen blood spot samples for SMA.
The National Institute for Health and Care Research’s Health Technology Assessment Programme is running a tender process to appoint researchers for the ISE which is a necessary step before the ISE can be rolled out.
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Brigg and Immingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on improving the (a) access, (b) quality and (c) sustainability of palliative and end of life care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications. The statutory guidance states that ICBs, including the Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB, the Surrey Heartlands ICB, and the Frimley ICB, must work to ensure that there is sufficient provision of care services to meet the needs of their local populations.
NHS England has also developed a palliative care and end of life care dashboard. The dashboard helps commissioners understand the palliative care and end of life care needs of their local population, including the ability to filter the available information, such as by deprivation or ethnicity, enabling ICBs to put plans in place to address and track the improvement of health inequalities, and ensure that funding is distributed fairly, based on prevalence.
The Department and NHS England are currently working at pace to develop plans on how best to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all-age palliative care and end of life care in line with the 10-Year Health Plan.
Additionally, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the Department has invested £3 million in a Policy Research Unit in Palliative and End of Life Care. This unit is building the evidence base on palliative care and end of life care, with a specific focus on inequalities.
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Brigg and Immingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to strengthen statutory guidance on the legal duty to commission palliative care services in the Health and Care Act 2022.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative care and end of life care. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.
The statutory guidance states that ICBs must work to ensure that there is sufficient provision of care services to meet the needs of their local populations, which can include hospice services, available within the ICB catchment. There are no current plans to update the statutory guidance.
The ICBs are expected to follow the statutory guidance in exercising their functions and must pay due regard to it in the planning, commissioning, and delivery of palliative care and end of life care services.
Additionally, NHS England has a legal duty to annually assess the performance of each ICB in respect of each financial year and to publish a summary of its findings. This assessment must assess how well the ICB has discharged its functions.
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Brigg and Immingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the support available to ambulance staff who attend traumatic callouts.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The mental health of all National Health Service staff is a high priority, including ambulance staff as responders to emergency incidents. At a national level ambulance staff have access to the SHOUT helpline for crisis support alongside the Practitioner Health service for more complex mental health wellbeing support, including trauma and addiction. Additionally, ambulance trusts and the Association of Ambulance Trust Chief Executives have worked closely with NHS England to develop an ambulance sector specific suicide prevention pathway to provide immediate, 24/7 support for staff experiencing suicidal ideation.
Significant work is also underway to strengthen the quality and consistency of suicide training across the health system. NHS England published Staying Safe from Suicide: Best Practice Guidance for Safety Assessment, Formulation and Management, to support the Government’s work to reduce suicide and improve mental health services. Further information on this guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/staying-safe-from-suicide/
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Brigg and Immingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the suicide prevention training provided to ambulance staff.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The mental health of all National Health Service staff is a high priority, including ambulance staff as responders to emergency incidents. At a national level ambulance staff have access to the SHOUT helpline for crisis support alongside the Practitioner Health service for more complex mental health wellbeing support, including trauma and addiction. Additionally, ambulance trusts and the Association of Ambulance Trust Chief Executives have worked closely with NHS England to develop an ambulance sector specific suicide prevention pathway to provide immediate, 24/7 support for staff experiencing suicidal ideation.
Significant work is also underway to strengthen the quality and consistency of suicide training across the health system. NHS England published Staying Safe from Suicide: Best Practice Guidance for Safety Assessment, Formulation and Management, to support the Government’s work to reduce suicide and improve mental health services. Further information on this guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/staying-safe-from-suicide/
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Brigg and Immingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that people with migraines receive effective support in primary care settings.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline, Headaches in over 12s: diagnosis and management, sets out best practice for healthcare professionals in the care, treatment, and support of people who suffer from headaches, including migraine. It aims to improve the recognition and management of headaches and migraine.
NICE updated its guideline in June 2025. Updates included a change to the strength of recommendations on treatments for migraine prevention to better reflect the balance between their benefits and harms, and incorporation of relevant technology appraisal guidance for treating and preventing migraine with or without aura.
At the national level, there are several initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with migraine, including the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) Programme for Neurology and the RightCare Headache and Migraine Toolkit. The GIRFT programme published a National Speciality Report, which makes several recommendations in relation to improving recognition and diagnosis of migraine by general practitioners. Additionally, the RightCare Toolkit sets out key priorities for improving care for patients with migraine, which includes correct identification and diagnosis of headache disorders.
The Royal College of General Practitioners has developed two e-learning modules about migraine and cluster headaches, which aim to raise awareness amongst primary care clinicians about the different types of migraine and their associated symptoms, and how to differentiate.
Over the last four years, a new class of drugs, calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) inhibitors, has been made available on the National Health Service for the prevention and treatment of episodic and chronic migraines. On 15 May 2024, Atogepant became the latest CGRP inhibitor recommended by NICE for use as a preventive medication for the treatment of migraine.
A key priority for the Government is to cut waiting lists, including for patients with migraine. We have committed to achieving the NHS Constitutional standard that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment by March 2029, including in neurology services. We have reduced the elective waiting list by over 206,000 since July 2024. Between July 2024 and June 2025, we have delivered 5.2 million additional appointments, many of which will have been for patients with migraine.
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Brigg and Immingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients were admitted to hospital with a primary diagnosis of migraine in the 2024-25 financial year; and what steps he plans to take to help reduce the number of patients presenting to hospital with migraines.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England publishes data on hospital admissions and related diagnosis information, including finished admission episodes due to migraines. The total number of hospital admissions due to migraines in the 2024/25 financial year was 39,207. The data is available at the following link:
At the national level, there are a number of initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with migraine, including the Getting It Right First Time programme for neurology and the RightCare Headache and Migraine Toolkit.
The Government’s 10-Year Health Plan includes a focus on expanding access to urgent care services at home and in the community as part of our new Neighbourhood Health model, to reduce demand into urgent and emergency care.
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Brigg and Immingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to expand the range of clinicians able to deliver migraine treatment, in the context of proposals to shift from hospital to community care within the 10 Year Plan for Health.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
At the national level, there are a number of initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with migraine, including those in Lincolnshire, such as the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) Programme for Neurology and the RightCare Headache and Migraine Toolkit. The GIRFT programme published a National Speciality Report, which makes several recommendations in relation to improving recognition and diagnosis of migraine by general practitioners. Additionally, the RightCare Toolkit sets out key priorities for improving care for patients with migraine, including those in Lincolnshire, which includes correct identification and diagnosis of headache disorders.
The Royal College of General Practitioners has developed two e-learning modules about migraine and cluster headaches, which aim to raise awareness amongst primary care clinicians about the different types of migraine and their associated symptoms, and how to differentiate.
NHS England has also established a Neurology Transformation Programme, a multi-year, clinically led programme, which has developed a new model of integrated care for neurology services, to support integrated care boards to deliver the right service, at the right time for all neurology patients, including for those with migraine.
There are a number of policies outlined in the 10-Year Health Plan which have the potential to have a very positive impact on care for patients with migraine. More tests and scans delivered in the community, better joint working between services, and greater use of technology will all support people to manage their long-term conditions, including migraine, closer to home.
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, the NHS App will be enhanced to allow patients to manage appointments, medications, and view or create their own care plans. Patients will be able to manage their care in one place, giving them direct access and preference over the services they need. The My Medicines section will enable patients to manage their prescriptions, and the My Health section will enable patients to monitor their symptoms and bring all their data into one place. Patients will be able to self-refer to services where clinically appropriate through the My Specialist section on the NHS App. This will accelerate their access to treatment and support.
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Brigg and Immingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve outcomes for (a) restless legs syndrome and (b) other rare conditions.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to providing high-quality care and support to people with all types of health conditions, including restless legs syndrome (RLS) and rare health conditions, to ensure that they live independent and healthier lives for longer. This means having access to the latest services and treatments, as well as supporting their families and unpaid carers.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence publishes clinical knowledge summaries (CKS) as a source of supporting information mainly for National Health Service staff working in primary care. The CKS on the diagnosis and clinical management of RLS was updated in February 2025 and is available at the following link:
https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/restless-legs-syndrome/
General practitioners are supported on RLS by neurology referral or specialist Advice and Guidance. This includes 27 specialised neurological treatment centres across the NHS in England, which provide access to neurological multidisciplinary teams to ensure that patients with RLS can receive specialised treatment and support, according to their needs.
The UK Rare Diseases Framework sets out four priorities collaboratively developed with the rare disease community, and these include: helping patients get a final diagnosis faster; increasing awareness of rare diseases among healthcare professionals; better coordination of care; and improving access to specialist care, treatments, and drugs. We remain committed to delivering under the framework, and published the annual England Action Plan in February 2025. The framework, published in January 2021, is available from the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-rare-diseases-framework